Why I'm Hiking to Everest Base Camp

September 4, 2024

While hiking in Argentina, I saw three signs for “Kathmandu.” Three signs naming the capital city of Nepal, home of Everest and the Himalayas, while I was hiking on a trail clear across the globe—and just days after dreaming out loud with a friend about hiking to see Everest later that year. Coincidence? Maybe. But I took the literal signs as metaphorical ones—and I booked my two-week trek to Everest Base Camp not a week later. I’ve been training for the trek since March and will start hiking in mid-October.

Seeing Everest has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. Growing up, my dad jokingly talked about climbing to the top like Sir Edmund Hillary first did, and somewhere along the way I think my dad’s far-fetched dream got embedded into my psyche. 

Climbing 29,000 feet to the top (far more dangerous and involved) is never something I’ve considered, but making it to the base of the mountain, to 18,000 feet, where climbers prep for their summits, to see the tallest mountain in the world… that is a dream that has slowly become more real as my love of hiking and mountains has grown.

A little over 10 years ago, I remember being struck as one of my fellow Teach For America corps members received a Fulbright fellowship to teach English in… Nepal. I followed her journey in admiration—being amazed at this girl moving clear across the globe and living in the place where my mountain was.

I started researching the trek then, and I noted how much going to Everest Base Camp would cost (several thousand dollars) and the time it would take to do the trek (up to three weeks). As a broke 20-something with a traditional 9-to-5, it seemed almost impossible at the time. But I kept dreaming. And I took note of the trekking company that I wanted to use should I ever decide to take the leap—a certified B Corp dedicated to travel for the greater good.

And then, not two years later, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, the worst in 80 years, and I saw this same company work tirelessly to account for all 168 travelers in the country, while at the same time raising tens of thousands of dollars in aid in less than 24 hours.

And then, a few years later, I discovered through Instagram that my childhood pop idol Mandy Moore was… hiking to Everest Base Camp. This everyday girl with work and family obligations just like me. 

And then, a few years after that, I joined a small group of women who met weekly to chat about life and business, and one of the five members talked about a pivotal experience… in Nepal, hiking to Everest Base Camp.

And a few years after that, I met another woman, in an artist mastermind, who had… hiked to Everest Base Camp.

So when the window of opportunity opened for me to say yes to this lifelong dream of mine, I jumped on it. How could I not? Everything had aligned and was pointing me in that direction. I was no longer at a traditional 9-to-5. My finances were stable. And I had a friend and fellow female hiker who “just so happened” to be available and around Nepal in October, the month that is supposed to be the best, clearest time to see the mountains.

Coincidence? Again, I think not.

But I guess that still doesn’t answer the million-dollar question of WHY I’m going to Nepal to hike to Everest Base Camp.

And to be completely honest with you, I have no idea why I want to see the tallest mountain in the world. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s taken hours upon hours of my time these last six months training for this two-week, 80-mile, high-altitude hike. And yet, it excites me.

What I do know is that far too many of us put off the things we dream of, only to get to a point in life where our dreams never happen—and I don’t intend to be one of those people.

I also know that our desires were put on our hearts for a reason, and amazing things can happen when we follow them.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that altitude doesn’t seem to affect me like it does most people who live at sea level. I think it’s just another sign that I’m meant to be in the mountains. 

Life is directing all of us. We can all do big, scary, hard things, and there’s no time like the present to begin. And if we listen (like my Kathmandu signs) big “scary” things become no-brainers.

What’s your Everest?